NLEX Harbor Link to start soon

Manila North Tollways Corp (MNTC) recently broke ground on the P10-billion North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link that will connect North Luzon Expressway and the North Harbor at Manila Bay.

Construction will start within the month.

The Harbor Link will start at the Smart Connect Interchange cloverleaf, formerly called the NLEX-Mindanao Avenue Interchange, and run west through Valenzuela City past MacArthur Highway and turn south until its terminal point at Circumferential Road 3 (C-3) in Caloocan City.

The project is divided into two segments — Segments 9 and 10 — with the first covering two kilometers that will be built over a period of one year at a cost of P1.5 billion. Segment 10, consisting of a 6-kilometer elevated expressway, will be built over two years at a cost of P8 billion.

MNTC is aiming to complete the road project in time for the country’s hosting of the 23rd Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 2015.

Running a total of eight kilometers, the road project is part of the expansion of NLEX and will eventually connect to MPIC’s proposed NLEX-SLEX Connector Road project, one of the two separate infrastructure projects that aim to connect and cut travel time between the two major expressways north and south of the capital.

The project will benefit motorists, especially truckers and haulers, who can move people and merchandise faster to and from the North Harbor area to the NLEX, according to Ramon Fernandez, president of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the mother company of MNTC.

Fernandez said the Harbor Link project is expected to spur greater development in the Camanava area, increase land values, stimulate commerce between Metro Manila and Central and Northern Luzon and generate about 10,000 construction jobs.

“Our aim is really to expand the expressway network in the Philippines and also to make travel convenient for our motorists. By doing all these extensions, we bring expressway travel to the heart of the country,” Franco said.